Roller boring-drill.



H. R. HUGHES.

ROLLER BORING DRILL.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

IASOQSQD 'of its normal UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

HOWARD R. HUGH ES, HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR TO SHARP-HUGHES TOOL COMPANY, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, A CORPORATION OF TEXAS.

ROLLER BORING-DRILL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD a citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, Texas, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Roller Boring-Drills, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable cithers. skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to roller boring drills, and has for one of its objects to provide an inexpensive drill of novel design that is particularly adapted for usein materiaLwhich is of such formation that it is liable to cave in frequently when a hole is being drilled through same.-

Another object is to provide a roller boring drill in which the cutting device or" devices that maintain "the clearance of the drill-head can be adjusted to compensate for wear or to vary the cutting area of the drill, thus overcomingthe necessity of mounting new cutting devices on the head of the drill after the original cutting de vices have become worn to such a degree that the drill loses its clearance.

Another object is to provide a roller bor--,

ing drill having cutting rollers that can be replaced at small cost after they have worn out or become damaged.

Another object is to, providea roller boring drill of novel design inwhich the cut-' ting rollers are mounted on spindles that are supported at both ends-by substantial hearings on the head of the drill. And stillanother object is toprovide a roller boring drill in which the cutting rollers are arranged in a novel manner that tends to prevent the roller or rollers that maintain the clearance of the head from moving out path during the operation of drilllng a hole.

Other objects and desirable features of my; ingentlon will be hereinafter pointed ou '-Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical sectional view of a roller boring drill constructed in accordance with my invention; and-Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of said drill. I

Referring to A designates the head of the drill which is Specification of Letters Patent.

R. HUGHES,

ting rollers C, (P,

the drawings which illu's'-- trate the preferred form of my invention,

cutting roller B is mounted on a spindle 3 that inclines downwardly and inwardly toward thelongitudinal aids of the head A, and a group ofcomparatively small cutdiametrically opposite the roller B on a spindle ,4 that is inclined slightly but at Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

n ip lication'flled .Tune 20, 1913. Serial No. 774,772.

C and C are mounted aless angle than the spindle 3. The head A is provided with side bearings 5 that support the outer ends of the spindles 3 and 4 and a center bearing 6 that supports the inner ends of said spindles, said bearings being preferably formed integral with the head A and being so shapedo that they will take up the end thrusts of the cutting rollers mounted on the spindles which said bearings support. The approximately frusto-conicalshaped roller B is preferably so arrangedthat the vertex of same lies in the longitudinal center of the drill head, and said roller is provided with longitudinally disposed chisel-teeth ,7 that operate on the material at the bottom of the hole and also chiselteeth 7 that shear off the material at the side of the hole being formed, said roller B being so positioned that the teeth 7 of same will remove suflicient material from the side of the hole to maintain clearance for the head of the drill and thus prevent end of said roller. The means herein shown more of-the washers 8 at the outer end of the roller B can be removed and arranged on the opposite side of said roller, namely,

between the inner end of the roller and the center bearing 6, thus locating the rollerB to be used after the'roller- B has in such a position that the base portion or 1 outer end of same on which the teeth 7? are formed, projects farther from the side of the head A, as shown in broken-lines 1n Fig. '1. This is a very desirable feature of lost its clearance. 1n drillinga well great delay is often caused in obtaining a" new cutting'roller to take the place of one that has become worn to such a degree'that the drill has lost its clearance. Moreover, it was often necessary prior to my present invention, to discard a roller Whose end teeth had worn off so that the cost of keeping a. rollerboring drill in operative condition when the drill was being used in a hard, rocky formation was often quite high.

'In my improved drill the roller 13 can be adjusted to compensate for Wear on the cutting teeth 7 which maintain the clearance for the drill head so that it is not necessary to suspend the drilling operation until a new roller can be obtained.

While I have herein shown and described one particular means for adjusting the roller B, it will, of course, be obvious that various other means could be used for this purpose and therefore I do not wish it to be understood that my broad idea is limited to a drill in which the cutting roller is adjusted in the manner herein illustrated and'described or to a drill provided with cutting rollers of the kindherein shown.

The rollers C, C C and C that are mounted on the spindle 4 are comparatively small, and therefore can be manufactured at a low cost. The roller C is slightly fi-usto-conical-shaped and is arranged with its base end or large end presented out wardly so that it will form a slightly pyramidal-shaped projection at the center of the hole that tends to center the drill head, the ciittingteeth 9 on said roller extending longitudinally of same. The intermediate rollers C and C have cutting teeth 10 that extend parallel to the axis or spindle 4 about which said rollers revolve, but the end roller C of this group is approximately frustoconical-shaped and is provided with: cutting teeth 11 that extend at an angle to the spindle 4.-, the roller C being arranged in the opposite mannerto the roller C or .so that itsbase or larger end is presented inwardly. By arranging the roller C in this manner I overcome the side thrusts caused by the roller B. That is to say, the approximately i'rusto-conical-shaped roller C? is,mounted on thehead Ainsuch a manner that when it -is cutting onthe material at the bottom of the hole it tends to force the head laterally in the opposite directionto the side thrust causedby the action of the roller B on the side of the hole. 7

suitable for retaining the spindles 3 and 4 in operative position, in the head-A, andthe means herein shown for this purpose consistsof' set screws 12' at the outeren'ds'of the spindles which extend longitudinally of same and are screwed into cooperating openings formed partly in the spindles and partly 1n the head A, as shown in*Fig. 1. In order to reduce the torsional strains on said spindles,

dowels 13 are arranged longitudinally of the I spindles in cooperating openings formed in Y the inner end portions of the spindles and in the center bearing 6. The head isprovidedwith Water openings 14 so as t'o'direct jets of water downwardly onto thematerial that the. cutting rollers disintegrate, and a lubri eating duct 15 is formed in the head so as to conduct the lubricating medium from the lubricant-holder to ducts 16 in the spindles which have branches that lead laterally to the surfaces about which therollers of the drill revolve.

may be forced onto the spindles 3 and 4 so as to form bearing surfaces for the rollers, and washers 18 are preferably arranged between the rollers C, C, G and C so as to hold said rollers spaced apart and also hold the end rollers C and C away from the center bearing 6 and the side bearing 5.

A drill of the construction above described is inexpensive to manufacture, it is particularly adapted for use in a formation If'desired, bronze bushings 17 or bushings of any other suitable material Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A well 'drill comprising a verticallydisposed head that is adapted to be con-' nected to a drill stem, a roller mounted on a'spindle on said head and provided with a cutting surface that removes the material from the side wall of the hole and thus. maintains the clearance for the head, and

means for enabling said roller to be" adjusted longitudinally of said spindle so as to compensate for wear on sald cutting surface orto vary the clearance for the head. I

2. A well drill comprising a verticallydisposed head that is adapted to be =con-' nected to a drill stem, a roller arranged in a pocket in said head and having a-cutting surface that extends approximately parallel to the. side wall'of the holewhich removes suflicient material from said side wall to maintain the clearance for the head, and

removable devices arranged between the ineo aae.

ends of said roller and the side walls of said pocket for enabling said roller to be ad justed so asto compensate for wear on sald cutting surface.

' 3. In a well drill, a vertically disposed head that is adapted to be connected to a drill stem, means on said head for disintegrating the material at the center, of the hole, a rotatable cutter arranged in a pocket in said head for removing the material from the side wall of the hole so as to maintain clearance for the drill head, and removable devices interposed between the ends of said cutter and the walls of said pocket so as to enable said cutter to be adjusted to com.- pensate for wear,on same;

at. In a well drill, a vertically-disposed- 'head that is adapted to be connected to a drill stem, 1 a substantially frusto-conicalshaped cutter arranged on said head in such a manner that the tapered portion of same acts on the bottom of the hole adjacent the side wall of the hole, a cutting surface at the base end of said cutter that removes the material from the side wall of the hole so as to maintain clearance for the head, means for enabling said cutter to be adjusted so as to compensate for wear on the cutting surface at the base end of same, and an independent group of cutting rollers mounted on a spindle that extends transversely of the head for acting on the bottom of'the hole that lies inside of the cutting zone of said frusto-conical-s'haped cutter.

\ 5. A well drill comprising a vertically- ,disposed head that is adapted to be connected to a drill stem, an approximately frusto-conical-shaped cutting roller on said head that acts on the bottom of the hole and which is provided at its outer endwith a cutting surface that acts on the material at the side of the hole, the head being provided with portionsthat are arranged o posite to the end faces of said roller, an removable devices interposed between said portions and the roller for enabling said roller to be adjusted so as to compensate for wear on said cutting surface. 6., A well drill comprising a verticallydisposed head that is adapted to beaconnected to a drill stem, an approximately frusto-conical-shaped cutting roller on said head whose axis of rotation is inclined downwardly and inwardly toward the longitudinal center of the head, and rremovable .device s against which the ends of said roller bear, said devices being .adapted to be arranged in difl'erent positions-so as to enable said roller to be adjusted longitudinally of its axis of rotation so as to vary the distance between the vertical center of the heiald and the outer edgeportion'of said r0 er.

7. A well drill" comprising a verticallydisposed head that is adapted to be" connected .to a drill stem, a spindle on said head which inclines downwardly and inwardly toward the longitudinal center of the head, an approximately frusto-conical- V shaped cutting roller arranged on said spindisposed head provided with bearings, an inclined spindle supported by said bearings,

an approximately frusto-conical-shaped cutting roller on said spindleand provided at its base end with a cutting surface that removes the material from the side of the hole being formed, and removable spacing devices mounted on said spindle between said bearings and the end faces of the roller that is mounted on the spindle so as to enable the roller to be adjusted longitudinally of said spindle to compensate for wear of the cutting surface at the base end of the roller.

9. A roller boring drill, comprisingahead provided with cutting devices that form a round hole in which no center core is left standing, two of said devices consisting of approximately frustoconicalshaped cutting rollers arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the head, one with its base end presented outwardly and the other with its base end presented inwardly.

10. A roller boring, drill comprising a head, an approximately frusto-conicaL shaped roller-arranged on said head in an inclined position with its base end presented outwardly, and a group of relatively small rollers on said head arranged diametrically opposite said-approximately frusto-conicalshaped roller for disintegrating the material on the bottom of the hole from the center of the hole to the path described by said approximately frusto-conical-shaped roller, said frusto-conical-shaped roller being provided at its base end with a cutting surface that removes the material from the side of the hole being formed and said small rollers being mounted on a spindle whose inner end inclines. downwardly.

11. A'-roller boring head provided with side bearings and with a center bearing that-is arranged at oneside ofthe longitudinal center of the head, an approximately frusto-conical shaped cutting roller arranged in an inclined position between said center bearing and one of said side bearings, and a separate and distinct rotatable cuttin means arranged. between said center bearing and the other side-beardrill comprising a ing that travels in a different circular path from that described by said approximately frusto-conical-shaped roller.

12. A roller. boring drill comprising a head provided with side bearings and with a center bearing that is located at one side of the vertical center of the head, an approximately frusto-conical-shaped cutting roller arranged vbetween said center bearing and one of said side bearings with its base end presented outwardly, the axis of rotation of said roller being inclined downwardly and inwardly, and a group of relatively small rollers arranged between said center bearing and the'other side bearing in such a manner that they cut the material lying inside of the cutting zone of said conicalshaped roller.

13. A roller boring drill comprising a head provided with, side bearings and with a center bearing that is located at one side of the vertical center of the head, an ap with its base end presented inwardly and g the inner roller'of said group being approximately frusto-conical-shaped and arrangedwith its base end presented outwardly.

14. A roller boring drill comprising a head provided with side bearings and with a center bearing that is located at one side of the longitudinal center er the drill head, inclined spindles supported in said bearings,

one of said spindles being arranged atv a. greater inclination than the other and provided with an approximately frusto-conical shaped roller having cutting teeth that remove the material from the side of the hole,

and a group of relatively small rollers mounted on the other spindle.

15. A roller boring drill a center bearing that isarranged adjacent the center of the head, but at one side of the longitudinal center of the head, an inclined spindle supported in said center bearing and in one of said side bearings, removable means for retaining said spindle in position, an approximately frusto-conical-shaped cutting roller rotatably. mounted on said spindie, a spindle extending transversely of the head in the same direction as said inclined spindle and supported at its opposite ends in said center bearing and the other side hearing and provided with a group of relatively small rollers which travel in a diiferent path from that described by said approximately comprising a, head provided with side bearings and with frusto-conical-shaped roller, and'ducts for I supplying a lubricating medium to the bear ing surfaces ,on which said rollers turn.. In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses,

this eleventh day of June 1913.

HOWARD R. HUGHES.

Witnesses:

HYMAN LEVIN,

EARL LEIB. 

